Sýsto
Sýsto was a large island (including its satellite island, Asnor) north of Magella. The word Sýsto is an Alleic corruption of the Nympheic name for the island, Sëstón (meaning Sacred Rock). Though geographically distinct, Sýsto was considered, as a matter of Dellinian law, a section of the Magellan continent. Originally settled by the Nymphs, it became part of the Holy Imperial Union of Dellin during the conquests of the MA 100's. It's capital, Awe Orunve, was eventually converted into a human city, becoming one of Magella's four kingdoms. Sýsto was a major center of culture and politics and was named a "spark in the Magellan enlightenment." The invasion of Sýsto in MA 1027, by the forces of Toltus Alvedi, essentially marked the end of the kingdom's existence. It's final king was Hervias Aomeor, one of the Magín progenitors of Elfgard. Most of the population, which survived MA 1027's Golden War, fled to Judea. Geography The island complex known as Sýsto consisted of the main island, its eponymous center, and a few smaller satellite islands, the largest of which was Asnor. The main island was separated into two distinct sections by the Orucíl Mountains. Southern Sýsto was full of rugged and steep terrain, making it unsuitable for large settlements. Northern Sýsto, however, hosted sprawling forests in large valleys, providing an abundeance of lumber and food. Asnor Island's geography mirrored that of Sýsto's northern regions. History The Nymphs It is unknown when the Nymphs first settled in Sýsto, but their arrival on the continent was part of a colonial expansion that occurred starting in the mid-to-late- First Age of Elfgard. (It is believed, but not archaeologically confirmed, that the Nymphs were the first race to settle in Sýsto. There are, however, archaeological anomalies). They possibly simultaneously settled on Sýsto, Magella, and Ferían. Awe Orunve, on the northern coast of Sýsto, quickly transformed into the "Bastion of the East," the largest center in Magella, and, indeed, outside of the native Nymph continents. Awe Orunve was, beginning at this time and until the end of the Magellan Industrial period, almost synonymous with Sýsto because it developed into a gigantic metropolis, sprawling across most of the island north of the Orucíl Mountains. The only other Nympheic city on Sýsto, Faeruvia, on the southern tip of the island, functioned as a port to travel from Awe Orunve to Nasuros, the third largest Magellan city, on the northeastern coast of the coninent, or to Cíona, the second largest Magellan city, on the northwestern coast. Awe Orunve was both the political, economic, and social capital of the Numpheic colonies on Magella and the major economic port between Ferían and the west. Little more is known about the early history of Awe Orunve; it was so far from Elfmor, where most historical documents were written and perserved, that only speculation could be written about the city. Duron Ai-Antë suggested multiple theories regarding the city's origins. He was uncertain of the Nymph's motives, seeing Awe Orunve merely as a "far-flung port disconnected from the very ethnic and geographical essence of the Nymph-people." He believed that the city was a possible "bridge" the Nymphs were creating in an attempt to explore the "eastern oceans," a region even mysterious to the Severine. (Ai-Antë proposed the theory that the Nymphs were creating strange technologies of exploration and war in the east, specifically on Sýsto. This theory would be supported when the humans invaded the island, finding many "strange devices," which they promptly destroyed. The most famous Nymph technology in the east, Fearidun, was on Ferían, however, not Sýsto. Faeridun was powered by the Severine Orb; this device made Ai-Antë suggest that there must also have been a power source on Sýsto. That source was later identified as the Orucíl Mountains, though, even through human occupation, the mountains were not explored.) Nympheic culture on Sýsto is mostly unknown because there was little Magín intervention into the region. It is probably that the Magellan nymphs were much like the Ferían Nymphs, who are much more documented because of the various major events that ocurred on that continent near the end of the First Age of Elfgard. The only major documented event on Magella, the human conquest, at the beginning of the Middle Age, decimated any Nympheic documents. Human Conquest In the first century of the Middle Age, the humans, a race which emerged within Dellin during the end of the First Age of Elfgard, began exploring many of the eastern continents. They had their first contact with the Magellan nymphs some time between MA 77 and MA 90. The conquest immediately followed throughout the MA 100's.